​PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Aug. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What's the average quoted price for the top MRI systems on the market? Which systems offer the best image quality? Have hospitals reported magnet-related safety incidents in the last twelve months? Is a 3T system or 1.5T appropriate for my facility? As hospitals shop for MRI systems, these are just a few of the questions that the latest user survey from ECRI Institute helps to answer.

ECRI Institute's SELECTplus User Experience Network™ recently polled hundreds of MRI system users on a variety of criteria including image quality, coil selection and setup, ease of use, patient throughput, and vendor support. The survey results include function, feature, and service ratings for each model, grouped by vendor to show how each vendor's product line fares in each category.

"Hospital leaders and technology purchasers need all the supporting data and market insight they can get to make informed buying decisions, with a keen focus on safety and quality," states Jennifer L. Myers, ECRI Institute's vice president of SELECT Health Technology Services. "We rely on our partner healthcare organizations' end-user experience as one of the many tools hospitals can use to help make cost-effective purchasing decisions."

The user data reveal that among ECRI Institute members, four vendors dominate the market: GE, Philips, Siemens, and Toshiba.

In addition to the survey results, the released data includes average quoted pricing, feature-by-feature comparisons, member interest (market share), and other market analytics derived from ECRI Institute's research and expert analyses. Average quoted pricing for some of the most popular systems show that MRI costs range from $2M to $2.5M for 3T models; 1.5T models typically cost between $1.3M and $1.6M.

An excerpt from the survey report is available for free download. The full report is available to ECRI Institute members on the member website.

CIO, CTO & Developer Resources

The SELECTplus User Experience Network is part of a comprehensive decision support resource for medical technology purchasers with user satisfaction rankings and other key purchasing information, including market analytics from ECRI Institute's analysts and technology management experts. The resource is a member benefit of ECRI Institute's SELECTplus capital technology advisory service used by more than 3,500 member facilities from healthcare organizations worldwide.

For more information about the SELECTplus User Experience Network, contact Jennifer Myers at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5287, or e-mail [email protected]. To learn more about ECRI Institute, contact us by phone at (610) 825-6000; by e-mail at [email protected]; or by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

​About ECRI Institute​ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for more than 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute).

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